AO 2018 WOMEN'S FINAL: (1) Simona Halep vs (2) C. Wozniacki

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SystemicAnomaly said:
They also happen to be among the best players all time if not GOATs. But my point was that even these greats have lapses. That's what I saw with Simona in the AO final. Not a really a lack of mental strength. She has been working on her demons and her lapses. I believe she has a pretty good handle on it at this point.

http://www.sportspsychologytennis.com/tag/simona-halep/
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Everybody can have lapses, but she does it consistently at the key moments. She would benefit from a sports psychologist & advice/coaching from a player who has grabbed the brass ring. Most of every sport is what goes on between the ears & especially at the key points/times. In a contest like this where the two players are pretty much evenly matched in terms of talent, it is pretty much always going to come down to clarity of thought & handling the big situations better.
 
THUNDERVOLLEY said:
The essential point here is that Serena and Federer win majors, so their alleged lapses are not a defining part of their kind of game or career record. On the other hand, Halep is exactly where she was against Ostapenko last year. The only difference is that Ostapenko used a different set of skills to dismantle Halep, but the result was the same: the running around, and not using the net as a natural part of her game leads to not getting the major.
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I guess you missed my last post. Serena and Roger are among the best if not the best players of all time. And no, the Simona that lost at RG is not the same player who just lost at AO. Not the same situation. I saw some real promise in this match. If you are not seeing it, it probably because you are defining her by her past. She is playing so much more aggressively than she was last year and she is starting to come to the net more than she has in the past.
 
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MatsPhilander said:
Everybody can have lapses, but she does it consistently at the key moments. She would benefit from a sports psychologist & advice/coaching from a player who has grabbed the brass ring. Most of every sport is what goes on between the ears & especially at the key points/times. In a contest like this where the two players are pretty much evenly matched in terms of talent, it is pretty much always going to come down to clarity of thought & handling the big situations better.
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Seems to me she's already addressed this. Work in progress. Did you not take a look at the link I posted? From what I see, she's got a much better handle on this then she ever had before. It came down to a difference in just a few points in this match. Could've easily gone the other way
 
RF-18 said:
36(8).jpg


Congrats Carro!
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oh man,, this is so air brushed..
 
SystemicAnomaly said:
Seems to me she's already addressed this. Work in progress. Did you not take a look at the link I posted? From what I see, she's got a much better handle on this then she ever had before. It came down to a difference in just a few points in this match. Could've easily gone the other way
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I saw what looks like advertising about sports psychology to buy CD'S etc. She actually needs somebody to work with her on a regular basis like O'Sullivan has in Snooker. The reality is that at 26 she likely doesn't have that long left at the top level of the game-she has lost three slam finals, two semis & five quarters in the last four & quarter seasons. It is obvious she has clinchers disease & needs outside help to overcome it.
 
Steve0904 said:
Yeah. Tough to see either woman lose this one, but Woz has been the better player for longer too, and as you correctly point out her 2 other slam finals were against quality opponents. Halep really should've beaten Ostapenko.
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Just watched the highlights on the BBC and the last shot of the match where Halep dumped the ball into the net looked tight.
 
Mainad said:
Wow, you've got to hand it to Caroline! 67 weeks ranked at #1 and had all manner of **** hurled at her because she couldn't back it up with a Slam (or even get to a final during that time). Then her career goes into a tailspin (getting shafted by McIlroy didn't help) and she sinks as low as #78 or something in the rankings yet just when you think she's done and dusted, back she comes to finally win her 1st Slam title and grab back the #1 ranking into the bargain!! It's like the stuff of fairy tales!!! Who would ever have believed it??? :)
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Not quite as amazing as the Capriarti comeback but up there.
 
sarmpas said:
Just watched the highlights on the BBC and the last shot of the match where Halep dumped the ball into the net looked tight.
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Oh yeah. That's not surprising. She should've probably won the 30-30 point too, but I do think Wozniacki was the tighter player while Halep was more tired. Wozniacki started out the match pretty aggressively, but then Halep kind of took that role in the 3rd. Wozniacki scraped across the finish line on those last 2 points. She had reverted back to her old defensive self.
 
Steve0904 said:
Oh yeah. That's not surprising. She should've probably won the 30-30 point too, but I do think Wozniacki was the tighter player while Halep was more tired. Wozniacki started out the match pretty aggressively, but then Halep kind of took that role in the 3rd. Wozniacki scraped across the finish line on those last 2 points. She had reverted back to her old defensive self.
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I wasn't able to watch the match live but from the highlights I saw Halep was stretching her legs a few times between points. I can't remember the last time a slam final decided who would win their first slam and also gain the #1 ranking in the process.
 
Steve0904 said:
Oh yeah. That's not surprising. She should've probably won the 30-30 point too, but I do think Wozniacki was the tighter player while Halep was more tired. Wozniacki started out the match pretty aggressively, but then Halep kind of took that role in the 3rd. Wozniacki scraped across the finish line on those last 2 points. She had reverted back to her old defensive self.
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I think both of them were looking pretty gassed towards the end. Neither could barely hold serve anymore. Woz just had that little bit extra for the final few points.
 
Tennisanity said:
This match was mostly just a matter of how much gas was left in the tank for Halep. But damn it sure would help Halep if after hitting an aggressive shot she would move into the net and put away the floaters.
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One thing glaring I noted with WTA is they cannot hit CC angles at all , both FH and BH. Many rallies get extended unnecessarily when it should have been a put away winner

The women do great defensive skills, running , down the line but they can’t find angles at all
 
Too sleepy to finish watching the match. Slept & peeked the score. Congrats Caro!

Caro Wallniacki is truly one of the fittest athlete. Her stamina is really enviable.

Not surprisingly, she ran and finished the NYC marathon in 2014, despite not having run more than 13.1mi during training, despite partying till 4a just days before the marathon and spending the Sat before the marathon eating popcorn with Serena at a hockey game.

Congrats Caro! Such grit.

Another Slam try, Simona.
 
Whilst Halep hits a heavier ball (that she doesn't really capitalise on by moving forward), Wozniacki plays really well on both wings down the line. And it's well disguised.
Also her defence was slightly better than her opponent in that she adds more topspin to keep her in the point and give her more time against an opponent she would have known was rarely coming in. I think tactically she was sounder than Halep today.
And more importantly, she was able to play her own game.
 
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RF-18 said:
Why would she call it quits? It's a whole different situation than that of Bartoli. She is 27 and just got the #1 ranking back. Pluss she is very pretty and has many things going on outside the court. There is no way she will it call it quits anytime soon. Just too mich she throws away to take such a decision. Will play for many more years reckon.
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Mainad said:
Possibly but she hinted last year or so about wanting to settle down and start a family and now that she's finally landed that elusive Slam title and got back to #1 into the bargain she may feel she's accomplished what she set out to do and will now get married and start work on that family she wants. She may or not rejoin the tour at some point later like Clijsters did but that will remain to be seen.
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I've heard the family comments too. Originally, she didn't think she would play past 25 iirc. I hope she at least finishes this season and goes for the kill at the US instead of resting on her laurels.

Gazelle said:
Just knew that the loser (whoever it would be) would be branded a choker. Halep lost, that's all.

I actually felt Wozniacki was the one who got tight much more often.
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Agree
Mainad said:
Wow, you've got to hand it to Caroline! 67 weeks ranked at #1 and had all manner of **** hurled at her because she couldn't back it up with a Slam (or even get to a final during that time). Then her career goes into a tailspin (getting shafted by McIlroy didn't help) and she sinks as low as #78 or something in the rankings yet just when you think she's done and dusted, back she comes to finally win her 1st Slam title and grab back the #1 ranking into the bargain!! It's like the stuff of fairy tales!!! Who would ever have believed it??? :)
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It's quite the fairytale indeed.
Steve0904 said:
Oh yeah. That's not surprising. She should've probably won the 30-30 point too, but I do think Wozniacki was the tighter player while Halep was more tired. Wozniacki started out the match pretty aggressively, but then Halep kind of took that role in the 3rd. Wozniacki scraped across the finish line on those last 2 points. She had reverted back to her old defensive self.
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Exactly. She was a beast early on and in the TB. Majority of the rest of the match was her old defensive self. And that defensive self got her over the finish line in the end - not that unlike Dimitrov at the WTF mind you. And yes, Halep was more tired, Wozniacki doesn't know tired.
 
What? Why isn't Wozniacki trying to build on her slam win? Once you win a slam, you should feel capable of winning another.

I know it is her choice, but majority of tennis professionals would give anything to be able to build on their careers like she can. Why give up on something that majority of the tennis pros crave for?
 
Aaaaaaaaand of course this had to happen.
I had pretty much figured it out since the "Fett escape" and the Kerber-Halep semi just confirmed it.

This is tough.
I won't be watching (women's) tennis for a while.
I feel the investment/reward ratio is a little bit unfair at this point, to be honest.
Whatever people say, I think Simona is quite unlucky.
Whenever I think Bartoli has a Wimbledon title (that her opponent just gave her in the final) and Simona has zero (zilch, nada), it just makes me wonder if there's any poetic justice in the world at all.

Of course, I'm trying to look at the big picture (it was a good tournament for her, yadda yadda), but even the fact that Halep lost the #1 spot seems somehow unfair and too tough to handle at the moment. It's almost like the worst thing possible than can ever happen to her at Grand Slam level always tends to happen.

I hope she has a word or two with Clijsters (my favourite player of the last few generations), a similarly nice person who lost her first 4 (!!!) major finals and then went on to win the same amount.

I can't be too optimistic for the future (like most people who are saying "oh, she'll eventually win a Slam") because she always plays close matches and I can never imagine her just cruising to any Slam title, and whenever a match gets tight I just imagine her losing the important points over and over again. I also fear she might be developing a trauma, especially now that she played well enough to win (or at least deserve it) and still lost (agonisingly). Sometimes it feels like there are just too many obstacles to overcome.

However, this has made me more philosophical, in a way.
Of course it hurts, but if you look at it closely, how incredibly human is Simona's story?
We're so used to worship and stories of linear, almost god-like success (Serena and Federer, for instance), and Halep provides another side of the tennis narrative of success.

Success is also a player who tries and tries and tries, and keeps trying.
There's such a huge range of emotions involved in being a Simona fan.
Being her fan is like a pathway to wisdom.
 
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In my opinion,, there is Noone that can stop Simona from winning the French open now. Serena won't be a factor this year...her priority doesn't seem to be in tennis anymore after her baby. her baby seem to the priority now.
 
ScentOfDefeat said:
Aaaaaaaaand of course this had to happen.
I had pretty much figured it out since the "Fett escape" and the Kerber-Halep semi just confirmed it.

This is tough.
I won't be watching (women's) tennis for a while.
I feel the investment/reward ratio is a little bit unfair at this point, to be honest.
Whatever people say, I think Simona is quite unlucky.
Whenever I think Bartoli has a Wimbledon title (that her opponent just gave her in the final) and Simona has zero (zilch, nada), it just makes me wonder if there's any poetic justice in the world at all.

Of course, I'm trying to look at the big picture (it was a good tournament for her, yadda yadda), but even the fact that Halep lost the #1 spot seems somehow unfair and too tough to handle at the moment. It's almost like the worst thing possible than can ever happen to her at Grand Slam level always tends to happen.

I hope she has a word or two with Clijsters (my favourite player of the last few generations), a similarly nice person who lost her first 4 (!!!) major finals and then went on to win the same amount.

I can't be too optimistic for the future (like most people who are saying "oh, she'll eventually win a Slam") because she always plays close matches and I can never imagine her just cruising to any Slam title, and whenever a match gets tight I just imagine her losing the important points over and over again. I also fear she might be developing a trauma, especially now that she played well enough to win (or at least deserve it) and still lost (agonisingly). Sometimes it feels like there are just too many obstacles to overcome.
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Halep will have her chance, but I think it is as clear as daylight right now that she has to implement some changes in her game, like more net play for example.

She tried to beat Wozniacki at her own game and of course she failed to do it. How many times did she refuse to go the net when the opportunity presented itself?

Her coach taught her how to reach major finals. Now she needs a different coach to help her win them. I hope she realizes this soon.
 
mike danny said:
Halep will have her chance, but I think it is as clear as daylight right now that she has to implement some changes in her game, like more net play for example.

She tried to beat Wozniacki at her own game and of course she failed to do it. How many times did she refuse to go the net when the opportunity presented itself?

Her coach taught her how to reach major finals. Now she needs a different coach to help her win them. I hope she realizes this soon.
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I'm aware of her weaknesses.
But with this game you're criticising and two three set matches that went 15-13 and 9-7 in the third on her legs (and against the fittest retriever in the game) she still managed to take Wozniacki to a third set (and to play every set close). Don't tell me she couldn't have won this match playing like that, the margins weren't that big, and what separated her from Wozniacki had nothing to do with the game itself.

Let's see where this takes her for the rest of the year, I'm still not 100% on Cahill but I can't judge him too harshly for taking someone to 2 Slam finals that went to 3 sets.
 
Tennisanity said:
This match was mostly just a matter of how much gas was left in the tank for Halep. But damn it sure would help Halep if after hitting an aggressive shot she would move into the net and put away the floaters.
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1+ !

Could barely keep watching bc of this - so frustrating seeing Halep let floater after floater bounce in her court giving the opponent all the time needed to reposition. Props to Wozni though for capitalizing.
 
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tennisaddict said:
One thing glaring I noted with WTA is they cannot hit CC angles at all , both FH and BH. Many rallies get extended unnecessarily when it should have been a put away winner

The women do great defensive skills, running , down the line but they can’t find angles at all
Click to expand...

On the contrary, in this match, there was plenty of cross court hitting, sometimes from beyond where the camera could capture them. Not many short angles, but there were some of them, too. There were some glorious cross court backhand winners or forcing shots from both players. Don't know which match you watched.
 
mike danny said:
Halep will have her chance, but I think it is as clear as daylight right now that she has to implement some changes in her game, like more net play for example.

She tried to beat Wozniacki at her own game and of course she failed to do it. How many times did she refuse to go the net when the opportunity presented itself?
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According to Halep, her legs and feet didn't allow her to. Essentially that decided the match:
https://ausopen.com/articles/interviews/simona-halep-27-01-18-interview
Woz interview here: https://ausopen.com/articles/interviews/caroline-wozniacki-27-01-18-interview
 
I thought the match was kind of boring (both women played more interesting ones along to the final). Simona definitely had no energy left. Think that's why she wasn't even mentally melting down--too physically tired. So unfortunately she couldn't play her real game much, which may have made the match better, even allowed her to win. She's been serving so well (for her) and because she was tired (i think) and trying to be more aggressive she came to the net, which actually worked really well for her. I hope the loss doesn't send her into a mental tailspin because i do think she will win someday--just wish she would have had better energy because that's a sucky way to lose to not be able to really give your all. Good for Caroline, it must be great to finally have a major. Bottom line, that's sport and she won. some of the commentators were saying that serena will come back to a game where players have really improved. I definitely think that is true. It's good that the women's game is evening out some where lots of people are good and a match can go lots of ways.
 
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Dolgopolov85 said:
On the contrary, in this match, there was plenty of cross court hitting, sometimes from beyond where the camera could capture them. Not many short angles, but there were some of them, too. There were some glorious cross court backhand winners or forcing shots from both players. Don't know which match you watched.
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The short FH CC put away is what I am talking about .

Serves returns and rally balls are not always returned deeply . Both of them hugged the baseline and it is hard to find the short FH angle from there . If they moved in even 2 steps in front , instead of hitting deeper with a lesser angle they can go short with a finer angle that is impossible to get since the other player is in the baseline .
 
kalyan4fedever said:
seriously 1155 replies? did people watch this stupid pushing match ? OMG
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I guess you didn't watch it, did you? Don't think you would characterize it as such if you had. Occasional push mode from Caro and perhaps a couple of balls from Simona but this was hardly what one would call a pushing match. Simona played very aggressively in this match. And even though she lost, I preferred the way that she played more than the way that Caroline did. Wow punished 2nd serves more but Halep hit a lot more winners (but then she also hit more UEs with this more aggressive, high-risk style).


Tennisanity said:
This match was mostly just a matter of how much gas was left in the tank for Halep. But damn it sure would help Halep if after hitting an aggressive shot she would move into the net and put away the floaters.
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That's exactly what I saw her doing in this match. Perhaps not as much as someone like Federer or Dustin Brown might do, but it looks like something she's starting to become comfortable with. Expect to see even more of the style of play in the future.
 
Pretty devastated and (Maybe because I don't like Caroline) I hate when Woz ask for medical time out at 3-4. It's so readable that she will ask a medical time out during tight moment.
Good luck for future GS Simona!
 
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Nostradamus said:
where is the interview ??
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Did you happen to see the Halep interview? She was actually in fairly decent spirits. Not happy about losing the match but she was very positive about the way she played for the most part. She seemed okay with the mental side of her game in this tournament and match but felt that her body could not quite deliver given the heat and the circumstances of the past two weeks in her matches.

Nostradamus said:
oh man,, this is so air brushed..
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In case you couldn't tell, Woz is only wearing body paint picture
 
PDJ said:
@Aussie Darcy do you recall that Wozniacki father talked about her retiring over a year ago and then she found her form and has been much more solid since.
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Yep, was just before her 2016 US Open final run.

Here's the post

Aussie Darcy said:
@spystud

Wozniacki's dad (and coach I think?) has said Wozniacki may retire at the end of 2016 or 2017.

Danish media reporting.

http://www.bt.dk/tennis/piotr-wozniacki-smider-tennis-bombe-caroline-stopper-snart


Her dad does talk heaps of **** though..
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Thank god she didn't. So happy for her :D
 
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